Alyssa's POV:

I was almost at the exit, my heart beating a steady, resolute rhythm in my chest.

A hand suddenly touched my arm. I whipped around. It was Brianna, who had chased after me again, panting slightly, holding a small package in her hands.

"Alyssa, wait!" Her voice was bright and rushed. "I almost forgot, this is something Caden made for me last week. He's always so busy, but he still wanted to make a special gift. A little leather pouch for my paintbrushes."

She smiled as she opened the package, her laughter full of affection. "Even though the stitching is clumsy, he made it with so much heart."

Inside was a rough leather pouch sewn with thick thread. The dark brown leather was incredibly soft, yet it made my heart feel indescribably cold.

"He said he made this from some old scrap leather he had lying around," Brianna said, handing the pouch to me. "Although it's not perfect, the thought is what counts."

I took the leather pouch, tracing the crooked stitches. This wasn't some "old scrap leather lying around." This was the leather from my late grandfather's cherished old armchair!

After my grandfather passed away, I cut a piece of leather from it as a keepsake. Caden knew perfectly well how precious this was to me. He was the one who helped me cut it back then, promising he would make a memory box for me out of it.

Yet months later, he nonchalantly claimed he "lost it" when we moved, even scolding me for being "too sentimental" over a piece of old furniture. And now, my grandfather's relic, my grief, had all become his "sweet gift" to please Brianna.

"This is truly... precious." My voice was tight as I handed the pouch back to her.

Brianna tucked it away, unbothered. "Precious? Maybe it was just something he bought for a few bucks at a flea market. What matters is the intention."

Next, she pulled out her phone and showed me a photo. "Look at this! Last month, Caden took me to a special charity gala. The board members from my dad's hospital were all there. Everyone said we were the perfect couple. He's especially good at mingling with everyone, really charming. All the ladies absolutely loved him."

In the photo, Caden was holding Brianna's arm, laughing radiantly among a crowd of VIPs. This was his glamorous life—the world he desperately hid and kept me out of.

His countless warnings echoed in my head: "Alyssa, we can't be seen together in public. A married resident will make people think I'm not focused enough. Once my career is stable, we'll go public."

Her phone suddenly rang, and a sweet smile bloomed on her face: "It's Caden!" She answered the call, her voice light. "Honey? I'm almost there. I know you miss me, see you in five minutes!" After hanging up, her cheeks were slightly flushed. "He just gets so anxious whenever I'm not around. Always worrying over nothing."

Yet I had never received a call like that from him. When my grandmother was hospitalized, he told me to "handle it quietly" and not disturb his studying; when I was bedridden with a high fever, he only texted me to get well soon because no one was there to do his laundry. He never cared if I lived or died, only whether I could continue to serve him.

"Really, Alyssa," Brianna said earnestly, "don't waste any more time on that man who is just using you. You deserve true happiness."

Her words were like the final push I needed to make up my mind. Looking at the text from Caden demanding money still on my screen, I calmly pulled up his contact and decisively hit "Block."

His needs, his lies, vanished in an instant. Next, I switched my phone to airplane mode.

"You're right." A smile of sheer relief surfaced on my lips. "From now on, I won't waste any more time."

"That's the spirit! Don't let anyone step all over you ever again." Brianna checked her watch and waved goodbye. "Caden is waiting for me, I have to go!"

I watched her jog briskly toward the entrance, running straight into the trap Caden had meticulously designed for her.

Gripping that Montblanc pen tightly, I turned and walked toward the subway station. The cold wind brushed my face, but it made my mind clearer than it had ever been before.